


Something malleable

by honeynoir (bracelets)



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-13
Updated: 2010-03-13
Packaged: 2017-11-08 05:05:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/439483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bracelets/pseuds/honeynoir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’re telling me we’re standing on soft stones?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something malleable

The Doctor flung the TARDIS door open and stuck his head out. ”Oh, yeah! Got it on the first try!” He grinned hugely over a shoulder, then stepped out and rather gingerly found his footing.

 

Martha shrugged her jacket on and peeked out. She felt her face fall as her brain interpreted the surroundings. “It’s a quarry,” she said. And it was. There was nothing there but a carpet of differently sized stones, not as far as she could see.

 

“Ah, but look at my feet!” the Doctor said.

 

Martha did. His trainers were sunk halfway into the ground. “But it looks like rock!” she said. “It looks like you’re standing on rock.”

 

“It is.”

 

Perplexed, Martha stuck out a foot and prodded a stone with her high-heeled boot. The toe made a proper imprint, but the heel actually sunk into the stone. “That is weird!”

 

The Doctor grinned and reached out a hand to her. “Just come on out already! Mind your step.”

 

She took his proffered hand for support, and stepped out onto a sizeable stone. She wobbled for a second or two, but amazingly quickly her feet sank down and she stood quite steadily. The TARDIS cast a long shadow over her, the Doctor, and a substantial part of the rock in front of them. Martha shivered.

 

“You know, I’ve meant to come here again for a long time,” said the Doctor, staring off into the distance. “Never had the chance, something’s always got in the way. I think it was a coconut of some kind to start with, and then I never got around to it. And then I forgot about it until, well, just now, actually.”

 

“You’re telling me we’re standing on soft stones?”

 

“Didn’t I promise you all the wonders of the universe, Martha?”

 

“But… _soft_ stones?”

 

“Yeah.” He let go of her hand to ruffle his hair violently. “I told this friend of mine about it and she didn’t believe it either.”

 

Martha rolled her eyes.

 

“Ah, well, no point in standing around in the same spot, is there?” The Doctor half-walked, half-jumped a couple of feet forward, where he bent down and picked up a stone the size of an egg, which he apparently found just a bit more interesting than all the rest.

 

Martha looked down at her feet, at the thing she was standing on, its surface the coarse grey of any stone. “Can a stone be called a stone if it’s soft?”

 

“‘Course it can! This is no time for philosophical musings.” He hefted the stone in his hand. “Catch!”

 

Martha caught it clumsily, still half-expecting to catch a hard projectile, even though she obviously stood on something malleable. It was not much different than catching a ball. Her fingers dented the stone immediately. Intrigued, she squeezed it, juggled with it, shaped it like a piece of cookie dough – it reverted back to its original oval-shape slowly but surely. The weird thing was that she could feel its surface so clearly. It was cold, a little grainy, a little coarse… It was a stone.

 

“You can keep that. Ever seen a more perfect stress ball?” The Doctor moved again, somewhat unsteadily, out of the shadow rectangle and into the bleak light that covered the rest of the quarry.

 

Smiling despite herself, Martha pulled a foot up from the stone she had sunk into - it was surprisingly simple, save for a little resistance around her heel – and put it down on another. Moving the other foot was even easier. She tried it slowly a few more times, but soon she was half-jogging, half-jumping along with the Doctor.

 

“You’re good at this!” he cried.

 

“Simple!” She laughed. “It’s like walking in a bouncy castle!”

 

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever done that.”

 

Martha moved in a large circle around the TARDIS to investigate the landscape. It was exactly the same on the other side, save for a sinking sun in the sky. And she saw a sizeable stone half-stuck under the police box. _All the wonders of the universe,_ Martha thought.

 

When she had completed her circle, she found the Doctor lying flat on his back, a particularly slanting stone for a pillow.

 

“Comfortable?” she asked. The sun warmed the back of her neck, even though it was setting.

 

“No!” He moved around a bit, but kept his eyes closed. “The actual stone was better,” he muttered.

 

Martha debated with herself whether or not to lie down, too, when something was _different_. She tried to discern what it was – yes, the warmth at her neck had disappeared. And hadn’t the stone carpet (and the Doctor) suddenly taken on a bluish tinge? Martha turned around. _Oh_.

 

“Quarries like this are all this planet’s got going for it, it’s tragic really,” the Doctor said behind her.

 

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Martha. “This sunset’s looking _pretty_ nice!”

 

The sun was slipping below the horizon, and blue and violet of all shades were splayed across the sky, rippling like northern lights. It was mesmerizing, constantly moving, the shades constantly changing, weaving through one another as the sun slipped lower and lower…

 

She heard the Doctor draw a sharp breath, and felt the stones under her feet shudder a little as he approached.

 

“This is new,” he said as soon as he was at her side, a little breathless. “There must be something about the atmosphere, or maybe the stratosphere … I wonder what’s causing that blue tinge-”

 

“Shh. Just look.”

 

Martha stepped up onto a large rock to get a better view, and the Doctor followed her wordlessly. They lurched back and forth – the rock was a bit too small for two people to get on at the same time. The Doctor gripped Martha’s waist firmly for support. Martha put a hand on his shoulder and steadied them both.

 

The sunset just grew more and more beautiful. There was a tinge of pink now, too…

 

Martha glanced at the Doctor. He was bathed in colourful light and smiled up at the sky. He looked serene, almost… happy.

 

“This place has got a lot going for it,” said Martha, and she squeezed the Doctor’s shoulder with one hand and her little stone with the other.


End file.
